Kayveas pays tribute to Yeoh

KUALA LUMPUR: The late Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay, who died on Wednesday aged 88, had always been a loyal friend to all who knew him.
MyPPP president Tan Sri M Kayveas (pix) recounted how the YTL Corporation Bhd founder had remained loyal to him as a friend despite him no longer holding any ministerial positions.
"Yeoh never failed to call or invite me to any of his occasions, big or small. I'm not an MP nor a deputy minister anymore, but I was still in his books.
"There are quite a number of people that when you are no longer in position, they stop looking for you. But Yeoh, as a friend, was not like that," he said after paying his last respects to Yeoh at his residence, here, last night.
Kayveas was Taiping MP until losing in the 2008 General Election, and was also previously the Housing and Local Government Deputy Minister.
Kayveas added that Yeoh was the perfect example of how an individual could start from scratch, and grow to be one of the richest man in the country, noting how the latter had come from a humble background.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) managing director Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said he remembered Yeoh as someone who was most comfortable when he was amongst the commoners.
"He could mingle well with the VIPs, but I think he was most comfortable with the common folks. I think that's my fondest memory I have of him.
"I don't remember him as one with a tuxedo, but a man with the short sleeve, walking around among the working class," he said.